"Lee Dong-jae repeatedly urged Lee Cheol to say 'I gave money to Yoo Si-min'... spreading false information"
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae, who was acquitted in the first trial despite being indicted in the 'Channel A Coercion Attempt' case, is preparing civil and criminal legal actions against Kim Eo-jun, the host of TBS Traffic Broadcasting's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' for spreading false information.
This is because Kim repeatedly made false statements on his radio show, claiming that Lee had pressured former Value Invest Korea (VIK) CEO Lee Cheol to say he gave money to former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min even if he did not.
Lee’s legal representative, lawyer Choi Jang-ho, stated in a press release sent to reporters on the 14th, "In January 29, 2021, Lee filed a civil damages lawsuit against Representative Choi Kang-wook, who posted false statements on Lee’s Facebook account as if they were true, statements that Lee never made," adding, "Regarding this, a criminal trial is already underway against Representative Choi for defamation by spreading false information."
Lawyer Choi added, "At that time, Lee declared that if the broadcasts or posts containing such false information were not voluntarily deleted within two weeks, he would take firm legal action against the spread of false information, just as he did against Representative Choi."
According to a February 7 report by Munhwa Ilbo, Kim Eo-jun, host of TBS Traffic Broadcasting's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' denied the alleged fabrication of the Channel A incident on July 8, 2020, but spread false information similar to Representative Choi’s, saying, "Even if you did not give money to former Chairman Yoo Si-min, you should say you did. The rest we will handle. Otherwise, there is a trap that makes you threaten yourself, saying your family will be harmed."
He further stated, "Following such reports, an investigation of the entire TBS broadcast, including 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' confirmed that false information was repeatedly spread through TBS, and it is still possible to listen again via YouTube and other platforms."
Munhwa Ilbo reported on the 7th in an article titled
Lawyer Choi criticized, "TBS is a public broadcaster funded by the national budget, requiring strict fairness and political neutrality, yet it has been criticized for political bias. Despite Lee’s firm stance to take legal action against the spread of false information for over a year, no effort has been made to correct the falsehoods, and rather, the false information has been expanded, encouraged, and neglected."
Lawyer Choi said, "Accordingly, Lee sent a certified letter to TBS yesterday requesting the deletion of all broadcasts containing fake news on YouTube, podcasts, and other platforms, and the posting of a correction notice on the TBS website. If the public broadcaster TBS does not comply, Lee plans to initiate civil and criminal legal actions against TBS."
He added, "Separately from TBS, Lee plans to take further civil and criminal follow-up actions against Kim Eo-jun, who repeatedly spread false information as described above, thereby damaging Lee’s reputation, after identifying additional falsehoods."
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